The wage dispute between Deutsche Bahn and the train drivers' union GDL seems to be difficult to resolve in normal ways.

The state-owned company made the union a new wage offer shortly after the start of its current strikes - but hopes that it could move GDL chairman Claus Weselsky back to the negotiating table have not been fulfilled.

Rather, it is increasingly becoming clear that the core of the conflict is about issues that cannot be resolved with wage percentages.

The decision of the railway on Thursday to have the legality of the strike checked by the Frankfurt Labor Court by means of an urgent application fits in with this.

The outcome of the trial was still open at the time this issue went to press.

An overview of the conflict situation.

What is the GDL now offering?

Dietrich Creutzburg

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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With its offer, which was distributed on Wednesday evening, the GDL railway made a quantified proposal for the amount of a special corona bonus for the first time.

This one-off payment should amount to 400 or 600 euros, depending on the wage group of the employees.

The GDL had demanded, among other things, 600 euros special bonus.

What about regular pay increases?

Apparently, both sides are not far apart: Both want increases in two stages of 3.2 percent together.

The difference is: The GDL demands that a first stage of 1.4 percent take effect this year.

So far, the railway has not offered an increase for 2021, but only for January 2022.

What about the term?

Originally, the railway had sought a collective agreement for 40 months.

A new wage round could not have taken place again until mid-2024.

With the new offer, she has shortened the proposed term to 36 months.

With its demand after 28 months, the GDL is based on the collective bargaining agreement of the public service of 2020, which both basically see as a guiding principle.

What about the collective bargaining agreement for the public service that the Deutsche Bahn and GDL refer to?

This collective bargaining agreement from October 2020 provided for wage increases of 3.2 percent as a rule - but with variants: For caregivers there was up to 10 percent more money due to new surcharges.

For airports, however, an emergency pact was agreed with some cutbacks.

While Weselsky classifies the railway employees as similarly "systemically relevant", the railway uses the airports that had serious difficulties in 2020 for comparison.

Why does the GDL not at least get involved in new negotiations?

This might have been easier for them if the railway had not only submitted its offer at the beginning of the new strike, but a week ago, when the GDL had not yet decided on it.

To withdraw a valid strike call would be difficult for any union.

The bigger problem, however, is that the question of wages is not at the heart of the dispute.

Mr. Weselsky claims that the railway wants to destroy the GDL.

What's it all about?

Until 2020, the areas of responsibility of the two railway unions - the GDL and the larger railway and transport union (EVG) were regulated in an agreement between the three parties to the collective bargaining agreement. Attempts by Deutsche Bahn to extend this beyond the end of 2020 by mutual agreement have failed. The GDL now claims to represent not only train drivers or drivers but also employees in stations and workshops. Thereupon the railway decided to use the procedure of the tariff unit law for the first time. That means: In a company in which members of both unions work, their (sometimes different) collective agreements are no longer applied side by side. It then applies to all those collective agreements that have more members in the individual company.The railway assigned 16 of 71 disputed companies to the GDL, 55 to the EVG. The GDL is also taking legal action against this - the real majorities are different.

Is the existence of the GDL really threatened?

Hardly that.

If it were to agree to a continuation of that framework agreement - there was also a proposal from the experienced rail wage arbitrator Matthias Platzeck at the end of 2020 - it would not only be factually but also contractually secured as a union for train drivers and train attendants.

The situation is somewhat different with their strategy of expanding their responsibilities to other areas.

As long as it does not represent more members than the EVG in these areas, it would in fact have nothing to say there.

However, with its current course of conflict, it is clearly pursuing the goal of recruiting as many members as possible in the previous TOE domains.

How can this conflict be resolved?

Hard question. A willingness on the part of the railway to conclude collective agreements for station and workshop staff with the GDL would probably have a greater effect than all new wage offers. Weselsky argues that, according to her own reading, she would not disclose anything: If the GDL is actually in the minority in these areas, the railway does not have to apply the collective agreement there in case of doubt. So far, however, there is no information that Deutsche Bahn could be ready for such a step. The problem: If she admits that, the way back to a peace agreement with separate areas of responsibility for GDL and EVG would be blocked forever.The majority rule of the Unified Collective Bargaining Act would then drive both unions in all areas into an open competition for the favor of railway employees.